WASHINGTON, April 11 (UPI) -- Texas recorded the largest increase in proven oil reserves of any state, eclipsing North Dakota by nearly 2 billion barrels, the U.S. Energy Department said.

The Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the Energy Department, said Texas and North Dakota helped pushed proven crude oil reserves in the country to record highs. EIA said proved oil reserves in 2012, the last full year for which complete data are available, increased for the fourth consecutive year and were the highest since 1976.

"At the state level, Texas recorded the largest volumetric increase, up 3.0 billion barrels, in proved oil reserves among individual states, largely because of development in the Permian and Western Gulf basins," EIA said in a report Thursday. "North Dakota had the second-largest increase, up 1.1 billion barrels, driven by development of the Bakken and Three Forks formations in the Williston Basin."

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